Been There
by robacsam
Summary: He's the brother none of them asked for.
1. Chapter 1

He watched them as they talked amoung themselves, about how rhis was unfair, or that sucked, or if they wanted this treatment they wouldve stayed home, and other small comments about how much they hated the lab. Or the doctors. They got an hour or so before lights out and most of them were trusted with a common room, that only had a sofa in there, that connected to "sleeping chambers", as Wilcox called them. It was like he wanted to give the kids fuels for jokes he was a robot, or alien. Frankly, Nathaniel even found some of them funny, Virgil did a really good impression of the doctor. Even Sam laughed.

As the group would wind down for the night, most of them renoved their jumpsuits, Nathanial stayed in his since he had nothing else to wear and Star wasn't eager on giving him anything else. They were lucky enough they got to soicalize and have twenty minutes for lunch. In fact the larger joke was that most of the lab was somehow unhuman, just because of how much they seemed to not understand about teenagers otside of being smaller adults.

Nathaniel, still barely a teenager himself, watched the younger ones during this time. Mostly he just listened, like Sam, but her reasons where because she had little idea what was being said in English.

"If I wanted to be worked so hard. I could've stayed home," was Ty's main complaint tonight.

"So you keep saying, man. Feels like gym class times a thousand today. I think he's pushing us harder on purpose."

"It's not so bad..." three words and Nathaniel had all eyes on him from his spot on the end of the sofa. "I mean, it's just pain that gose with working out. It's not like any thing really hurts...right? Unless you pull something?"

And all eyes turned away again, annoyed at his stance on the subject. Shunning him for not agreeing with them. But then they'd still all sit together during food breaks, and thjs hour before lights out, after showering. Nathaniel hadn't felt so welcome and warm in a while.

After a few moments of silence, Virgil spoke next. "...I guess it could be worse..."

But their agreement wavered and slowed with each day.


	2. Chapter 2

"You guys really aren't thinking about leaving, are you?" Nathaniel asked as he stood behind the group, before the back exit, bags in hands. He knew it sounded dumb when he said it.

"What's it look like?" Tye asked as they headed forward. "I've had enough tests."  
"I'll admit they suck, but they're just trying to help us," in his argument, Nathaniel found himself stepping forward, following them slowly down the windowless hall. "Personally, I like not exploding and until we know triggers these things in us-"

"Compañero, then just don't follow, no's making you."Ed grumbled, he seemed the most determent to leave. In this time Virgil had manged to quietly push the door open, he held it open as the other stepped out.  
"You kind of are." Nathaniel mumbled, with traces of a bad attitude to follow in a short glare he gave. Once the night air hit him, he was so scared he almost stopped. Almost went back, and pushed the alarm like he knew he should have. Yet he still found himself trailing behind Sam, who seemed almost happy clueless once they got outside. The exit took them right to a parking-lot and from there, aside for some outside lights, they one had one issue; the ten-foot-high fence surrounding the place.

"So what's the plan now? Climb it?" Tye asked, looking to Virgil.  
"I… didn't actually have a chance to come up with a plan, I wasn't even sure we'd get out the door."

The solution was easy for an individual; Ed simply telaported himself to the other side, Virgil just used a nearby manhole cover to get over, and once she understood, Sam easily projected herself on top of the fence, took moment to catch her balance and projected herself forward down. Leaving behind only the dismayed Tye, who rolled his eyes a little at his friends on the other side and their semi-smiles (well, no Sam's hers looked nice) if they had mastered some great feat in their powers.

No one noticed until it was too late, that the guy in the easily spotted, bright, white jumpsuit had disappeared.

"Hey, over here!" Nathaniel stood before an open gate that they knew was locked before. Hardly questioning it, the two groups ran other to meet at that point.

"Why the hell are you coming?" Ed asked, "I thought you were scared."

"-and how'd you do that?" Virgil asked

"Because you guys are idiots." He wasn't yelling, since they were still so close to the lab, but even he had a breaking point. "What's the farthest you've gone? Your grandpa's?" he turned to Tye, "and you," now Virgil, "they got you from some train station still in your town, right?" He turned to Ed and Sam, "you two I can't be too mad at since going from country-to-country is impressive- but," he tuned back to the group as a whole "you need someone who knows what they're doing, you didn't even have a plan."

"And you do?" Ed asked, getting louder.

"Trust me. Yes."

"What about the whole exploding thing you just complained about?"

"If I don't you guys'll probably die in a worse way." He stuffed all fear down the second he went outside, and new Nathaniel, with a look not to be questioned, crossed the threshold of the fence, just before Tye. All of them watched him walk head in half-shock and confusion.

"Nandaka yoku wakaranai kado..." Sam said, but she followed after them as before. This time a double-arm grab wasn't needed to help get the message across.


End file.
